JP2011249076A - Floating connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress sliding wear between contacts of a floating connector.SOLUTION: The floating connector 100 includes a receptacle 2 having a contact 25 and a housing 20 supporting the contact 25, a plug 1 having a contact 15 and a housing 10 supporting the contact 15, and a position shift absorption mechanism PA which absorbs a position shift when the plug 1 and receptacle 2 are fitted to each other, and terminal parts 153, 253 of the contacts 15, 25 abutting against each other when the housings 10, 20 are fitted to each other. At least one of the contacts 15, 25 has a support part 252 which supports its terminal part 253 relatively slidably to the housing 20 for supporting it.

Description

  The present invention relates to a floating connector.

  Conventionally, there has been a floating connector that is provided with a movable housing so as to be movable with respect to a fixed housing of a connector fixed to a board, and absorbs misalignment when a receptacle (female connector) and a plug (male connector) are fitted. It is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this type of floating connector, the receptacle and the plug are fitted and fixed by the contact pressure of the fitting portion, and the contacts of the receptacle and the plug come into contact with each other at the fitting portion.

JP 2007-103189 A

  However, since the receptacle and plug are fitted and fixed by the contact pressure of the fitting part, when the floating connector is used in a device with vibration such as an automobile, sliding wear occurs between the contacts, and the life of the connector May be reduced.

  The present invention relates to a receptacle having a receptacle contact, a receptacle housing for supporting the receptacle contact, a plug having a plug contact, a plug housing for supporting the plug contact, a receptacle, and a plug. A positional displacement absorbing mechanism that is provided on at least one side and absorbs a positional displacement when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted together; and when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted, a terminal portion of the receptacle contact; A floating connector in which the terminal portion of the plug contact abuts against each other, and at least one of the receptacle contact and the plug contact supports the terminal portion so as to be relatively movable with respect to the supporting housing. Characterized in that it has a lifting unit.

  According to the present invention, at least one of the receptacle contact and the plug contact is provided with the support portion that supports the terminal portion so as to be relatively movable with respect to the support housing. Sliding wear can be suppressed.

1 is a perspective view of a floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. (A), (b) is the arrow a figure and arrow b figure of FIG. 1, respectively. It is a perspective view of the plug of FIG. (A), (b) is the arrow a figure and arrow b figure of FIG. 3, respectively. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG.4 (b). It is the VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of Fig.4 (a). FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the receptacle of FIG. 2. (A), (b) is the arrow a figure and arrow b figure of FIG. 7, respectively. It is the IX-IX sectional view taken on the line of FIG.8 (b). It is the XX sectional view taken on the line of Fig.8 (a). It is the XI-XI sectional view taken on the line of FIG.2 (b). It is the XII-XII sectional view taken on the line of Fig.2 (a). It is a perspective view of the plug which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the XIV-XIV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the receptacle which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the XVI-XVI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the floating connector which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the XVIII-XVIII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the XIX-XIX sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a figure explaining operation | movement at the time of the fitting of a connector. It is a figure which shows the modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is an enlarged view of the cam groove of FIG.21 (b). It is a perspective view which shows the modification of FIG. FIG. 24 is a sectional view taken along line aa in FIG. 23. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the leaf | plate spring member used for the floating connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of operation | movement of the floating connector of FIG.

-First embodiment-
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floating connector 100 according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 1 (b view of FIG. 1). The floating connector 100 includes a plug 1 and a receptacle 2 that can be fitted to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 are each mounted on the surface of the substrate 3, and are fitted and fixed to each other on the opposite side of the mounting surface. FIGS. 1 and 2 each show a fitting state of the connector 100, and the boards 3 are electrically connected to each other by fitting the plug 1 and the receptacle 2. Since floating connector 100 according to the present embodiment has a vibration absorbing function as will be described later, it is suitable for use in automobiles and other devices that generate vibrations.

  3 is a perspective view of the plug 1, and FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are a side view (a view a in FIG. 3) and a front view (a view b in FIG. 3), respectively. . The plug 1 includes a housing 10 that is an electrically insulating resin molded product and a plurality of conductive contacts 15 that are fixed to the housing 10 by integral molding. The contacts 15 are made of an elastically deformable metal, and a large number of contacts 15 are arranged at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the housing 10. The housing 10 includes a fixed housing 11 and a movable housing 12 that are formed in a substantially box shape.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 4B, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. The fixed housing 11 is fixed to the substrate 3, and the movable housing 12 is movably accommodated in the accommodating portion 110 of the fixed housing 11. In the housing part 120 of the movable housing 12, a central wall 121 protrudes from the bottom surface of the movable housing 12 at the center in the width direction, and the housing part 120 is formed in a groove shape so as to surround the central wall 121. Reference numeral 13 denotes a fixing bracket for fixing the fixed housing 11 to the substrate 3. The fixing bracket 13 has a substantially L-shaped cross section, and one end portion thereof is press-fitted into a fitting groove 11 a provided through the center of the side end portion of the fixed housing 11, and the other end portion is formed on the fixed housing 11. It protrudes from the side end face.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of contacts 15 are separately provided on both sides of the central wall 121 in the width direction of the housing 10. That is, the contact 15 is provided from the side wall 111 of the fixed housing 11 to the side wall 122 and the central wall 121 of the movable housing 12, and is disposed symmetrically in the width direction with the central wall 121 interposed therebetween. More specifically, each contact 15 includes a base portion 151 that penetrates the side wall 111 of the fixed housing 11 in the height direction, and a bottom portion of the side wall 122 of the movable housing 12 from one end (upper end in the figure) of the side wall 111 of the fixed housing 11. And a terminal portion 153 disposed between the side wall 122 and the central wall 121 of the movable housing 12.

  One end portion (lower end portion in the figure) of the base portion 151 protrudes outside the side wall 111 along the bottom surface of the fixed housing 11 and is connected to the substrate 3. The terminal portion 153 is a so-called fork type, and a tip portion (upper end portion in the drawing) is formed in a fork-like shape and is provided with a fork portion 154. One of the fork portions 154 is fixed to the side wall 122 and the other is fixed to the central wall 121. A protrusion 155 that protrudes inward in the width direction is provided at the tip of each fork 154.

  In the present embodiment, the movable housing 12 is supported from the fixed housing 11 through the elastically deformable contact 15. For this reason, the movable housing 12 can move relative to the fixed housing 11 in the horizontal direction and the height direction by elastic deformation of the S-shaped portion 152 of the contact 15. That is, the plug 1 according to the present embodiment has the misalignment absorbing mechanism PA, and the connector 100 has a floating structure.

  7 is a perspective view of the receptacle 2. FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b) are a side view (a view in FIG. 7) and a front view (a view in FIG. 7). . The receptacle 2 includes a housing 20 that is an electrically insulating resin molded product, and a plurality of conductive contacts 25 fixed to the housing 20. The contacts 25 are made of an elastically deformable metal, and a large number of contacts 25 are arranged at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the housing 20. The housing 20 is formed in an elongated box shape corresponding to the housing 10 of the plug 1.

  9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG. 8B, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. The housing 20 includes a base 21 and a side wall 22 projecting above the base 21, and an accommodating portion 23 is formed inside the side wall 22. A central wall 121 of the movable housing 12 of the plug 1 can be fitted into the accommodating portion 23, and the side wall 22 can be fitted into the accommodating portion 120 of the plug 1. Reference numeral 24 denotes a fixing bracket for fixing the housing 20 to the substrate 3.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the housing 20 is provided with a pair of contacts 25 separated from each other, and the contacts 25 are arranged symmetrically in the width direction with the accommodating portion 23 interposed therebetween. That is, the contact 25 includes a base portion 251 that penetrates the base 21 of the housing 20, a terminal portion 253 disposed in the side wall 22, and a spring portion 252 that connects the base portion 251 and the terminal portion 253.

  The base 251 is integrally fixed to the base 21 of the housing 20, and one end thereof (the lower end in the figure) protrudes outside the base 21 along the bottom surface of the housing 20 and is connected to the substrate 3. On the other hand, the terminal portion 253 and the spring portion 252 are disposed with a gap 22b in the hole 22a formed in the side wall 22, and can move in the height direction and the width direction in the hole 22a. The spring portion 252 is formed in an approximately S shape and is elongated, and the end portion on the inner side in the width direction of the base portion 251 (upper end portion in the drawing) and the end portion on the outer side in the width direction of the terminal portion 253 (lower end portion in the drawing) are springs. They are connected by the part 252. Due to the elastic deformation of the spring portion 252, the terminal portion 253 moves relative to the base portion 251.

  Next, the operation of the floating connector 100 according to the first embodiment will be described. When the board 3 on which the plug 1 is mounted and the board 3 on which the receptacle 2 is fitted, the side wall 22 of the housing 20 of the receptacle 2 is pushed into the accommodating portion 120 of the movable housing 12 of the plug 1. At this time, since the movable housing 12 of the plug 1 is movable with respect to the fixed housing 11 by the positional deviation absorbing mechanism PA, the positional deviation when the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 are fitted can be corrected. Note that the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 can be separated by pulling the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 in the fitted state in a direction away from each other.

  11 and 12 are a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG. 2B and a sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, when the connector 100 is in the fitted state, the terminal portion 253 is sandwiched between a pair of fork portions 154 at the tip of the terminal portion 153, whereby the contacts 15 and 25 are in contact with each other. At this time, a gap s is provided between the end surface of the movable housing 12 of the plug 1 and the end surface of the housing 20 of the receptacle 2 that face each other.

  In this state, when some vibration acts on the substrate 3, the spring portion 252 is elastically deformed while maintaining contact between the terminal portions 153 and 253 of the contacts 15 and 25. As a result, the housing 20 of the receptacle 2 moves relative to the movable housing 11 of the plug 1 to suppress the transmission of vibration between the plug 1 and the receptacle 2, and the vibration is attenuated by the action of the spring portion 252. Can suppress vibration.

According to 1st Embodiment, there can exist the following effects.
(1) A spring portion 252 is provided between the base portion 251 of the contact 25 of the receptacle 2 and the terminal portion 253 so that the terminal portion 253 can be moved relative to the housing 20 via the spring portion 252. For this reason, since the vibration between the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 is absorbed by the spring portion 252, even when the connector 100 is used in an environment where vibration is generated, the terminal portions 153 and 253 of the contacts 15 and 25 are connected to each other. It is possible to maintain the state of being in contact. As a result, sliding wear of the terminal portions 153 and 253 is suppressed, and the life of the connector 100 can be extended.

(2) Since the plug 1 is provided with the misalignment absorbing mechanism PA and the receptacle 2 is provided with the spring portion 252, the floating structure and the vibration absorbing structure of the connector 100 are provided in separate members, and the configuration is easy. .
(3) Since the terminal portion 153 of the contact 15 is a fork type and sandwiches both sides of the terminal portion 253 of the contact 25, the terminal portions 153 and 253 are firmly connected to each other, and sliding wear at the terminal portions 153 and 253 is achieved. Can be suppressed.

-Second Embodiment-
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the location same as FIGS. 1-12, and the difference with 1st Embodiment is mainly demonstrated below. In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the floating connector 100 of the second embodiment separates the engagement portion that engages the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 and the receptacle 2 from the plug 1 as shown below. A biasing member that biases in the direction is provided.

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the plug 1 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XIV-XIV in FIG. Engaging portions 14 are provided on the side walls 123 located on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the central wall 121 of the movable housing 12. The engaging portion 14 is attached to a groove 141 formed in the side wall 123 so as to be elastically deformable outward in the longitudinal direction. At the end of the engaging portion 14 (upper end in the figure), a protruding portion 142 that protrudes into the accommodating portion 120 toward the inside in the longitudinal direction is formed. The corner 143 above the protrusion 142 is chamfered so that the side wall 22 can be easily fitted into the housing 120.

  15 is a perspective view of the receptacle 2 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVI-XVI in FIG. At both longitudinal ends of the receptacle 2, slit holes 26 (see FIG. 17) are opened from the bottom surface of the base 217 to the end portion of the side wall 22 (near the upper end portion in the figure) at the center in the width direction. An elongated hook 27 made of metal is disposed in each hole 26.

  For example, the hook 27 is formed by extending the fixing bracket 24 in an elongated shape, and one end thereof is fixed to the base 21 of the housing 20. An R-shaped bent portion 270 is formed at the other end of the hook 27, and the bent portion 270 projects outward (upward in the drawing) from the bottom surface 23 a of the side wall 23. That is, the hook 27 is cantilevered by the base 21 and can be elastically deformed in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure with the support portion as a fulcrum.

  Also in the second embodiment, the floating connector 100 is fitted by pushing the side wall 22 of the receptacle 2 into the accommodating portion 120 of the plug 1. 17 is a perspective view showing a fitting state of the floating connector 100 according to the second embodiment, and FIGS. 18 and 19 are a sectional view taken along line XVIII-XVIII and a sectional view taken along line XIX-XIX in FIG. 17, respectively. is there. As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, in the fitted state of the connector 100, the engaging protrusion 142 of the plug 1 is inserted into the slit hole 26, and the engaging portion 14 is engaged with the end of the side wall 22. Further, the bent portion 270 of the hook 27 abuts against the end surface (upper end surface in the figure) of the central wall 121 of the plug 1, and the receptacle 2 is pushed upward in the figure by the spring force of the hook 27.

  The operation when the connector 100 is fitted will be further described with reference to FIG. When fitting the receptacle 2 and the plug 1, first, as shown in FIG. 20A, until the engaging projection 142 gets over the end of the side wall 22 and is inserted into the slit hole 26, The side wall 22 is pushed into the accommodating portion 120 against the spring force of the hook 27. At this time, a compressive force acts on the spring portion 252 of the contact 25, and the contact 25 is compressed in the height direction.

  When the pushing force of the receptacle 2 is removed after the engaging protrusion 142 is inserted into the slit hole 26, the receptacle 2 is pushed back by the spring force of the hook 27 as shown in FIG. Abuts against the end face of the side wall 22. In this state, the gap S between the movable housing 12 of the plug 1 and the housing 20 of the receptacle 2 is maximized. For this reason, the compressive force which acted on the spring part 252 of the contact 25 is removed, and the spring part 252 returns to the initial state.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the engaging portion 14 is provided in the movable housing 12 of the plug 1, and the slit hole 26 is provided in the receptacle 2 corresponding to the engaging portion 14. The engaging portion 14 is engaged with the side wall 22 of the receptacle 2. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the fitting portion from falling off when the connector 100 is used. In addition, since the hook 27 is provided as a biasing member that biases the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 in the direction away from each other, the spring portion 252 of the contact 25 can be returned to the initial state when the connector 100 is fitted. A good vibration absorbing effect can be obtained when the spring portion 252 operates normally.

  In addition, the structure of an engaging part and a biasing member is not restricted to what was mentioned above. For example, as shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, the engaging portion 14 of the plug 1 is provided with a circular or hemispherical protruding portion 145 instead of the engaging protruding portion 142, and correspondingly. A heart-shaped cam groove 28 (so-called heart cam) may be provided on the side wall 22 of the receptacle 2, and the protrusion 145 may be engaged with the cam groove 28. As shown in FIG. 22, a step is provided on the bottom surface of the cam groove 28 as is well known, so that when the receptacle 2 is pushed into the plug 1, the protrusion 145 is fixed to the back of the cam groove 28. be able to.

  FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a floating connector having a configuration of another engaging portion, and FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the relevant part (a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa in FIG. 23). 23 and 24, a leaf spring member 50 is press-fitted and attached to the fitting groove 11 a at the side end of the housing 10 (fixed housing 11) of the plug 1. At both ends of the housing 20 of the receptacle 2, a substantially cylindrical protruding portion 29 protrudes substantially perpendicular to the fitting direction, and the protruding portion 20 is formed on the leaf spring member 50 when the housings 10 and 20 are fitted. Is engaged.

  FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the leaf spring member 50. The plate spring member 50 is formed by punching and bending a plate material having a spring property such as spring steel into a predetermined shape, and a press-fit portion 51 to be press-fitted into the fixed housing 11 and a protrusion protruding from a side end surface of the fixed housing 11. It has the part 52 integrally. The protruding portion 52 is bent substantially vertically from one end portion (lower end portion in the figure) of the press-fit portion 51 and is used to fix the fixed housing 11 to the substrate 3 like the fixing bracket 13 (FIG. 5).

  The press-fit portion 51 is formed inside the first leaf spring portion 54 via a base portion 53 provided with a projecting portion 52, a first leaf spring portion 54 rising from the base portion 53, and a substantially U-shaped through hole 57. The second leaf spring portion 55 is provided. The base portion 53 is formed wider than the protruding portion 52 and wider than the first leaf spring portion 54. An end portion (upper end portion in the drawing) of the first leaf spring portion 54 is formed in an arc shape and is bent obliquely toward the protruding portion 52 to form a bent portion 54a. The second leaf spring portion 55 rises from the base portion 53, and its end portion (upper end portion in the figure) is bent obliquely toward the protruding portion 52 to form a bent portion 55a. The bent portion 55a is formed wider than the base end side of the second leaf spring portion 55, and is bent in the width direction toward the protruding portion 52 side. An accommodation space 56 for accommodating the protruding portion 29 of the housing 20 is formed between the bent portion 54a and the bent portion 55a. The height of the accommodating space 56 is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the protruding portion 29, and the width of the accommodating space 56 is larger than the outer diameter of the protruding portion 29. For this reason, the protrusion 29 can slide in the width direction in the accommodation space 56.

  As shown in FIG. 23, a notch 11b is provided at the end of the fixed housing 11 of the plug 1, and the bent portions 54a and 55a of the leaf spring member 50 interfere with the housing 10 via the notch 11b. And can be elastically deformed outside the housing 10. When the housing 20 of the receptacle 2 is fitted into the housing 10 of the plug 1, when the housing 10 is pushed into the housing 20, the first bent portion 54 a of the leaf spring member 50 is pushed outward by the protrusion 29, and the protrusion 29 Is accommodated in the accommodation space 56 over the bent portion 54a. When the protruding portion 29 is accommodated in the accommodating space 56, the bent portion 54a is restored by its own spring force, the upper and lower ends of the protruding portion 29 are sandwiched between the bent portions 54a and 55a, and the protruding portion 29 is supported by the leaf spring member 50. Elastically supported.

  In such a configuration, the protrusions 29 in the accommodation space 56 are allowed to move to some extent, and the housings 10 and 20 can be fitted with each other while absorbing the positional deviation between the housings 10 and 20. For example, in a state where the housing 20 floats in the width direction with respect to the housing 10 as shown in FIG. 26A, or in a state where the housing 20 rotates relative to the housing 10 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the housings 10 and 20 can be fitted together with the housing 20 moved in the longitudinal direction with respect to the housing 10. The movement of the protrusion 29 at the time of housing fitting is limited by the spring force of the leaf spring member 50. By engaging the housings 10 and 20 via the leaf spring member 50 in this manner, the relative movement of the housings 10 and 20 in the floating position can be limited while absorbing the positional deviation between the housings 10 and 20. Thereby, the vertical sliding of the terminal portions 153 and 253 of the contacts 15 and 25 can be prevented, and the slight sliding wear of the terminal portions 153 and 253 can be prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the elongated spring portion 252 is formed between the base portion 251 of the contact 25 of the receptacle 2 and the terminal portion 253. However, the terminal portion 253 can be moved relative to the housing 20. The structure of the support part to support is not restricted to this. Although the support portion is provided at the contact 25 of the receptacle 2, the support portion may be provided at the contact 15 of the plug 1, or the support portions may be provided at the contacts 25 and 15 of the receptacle 2 and the plug 1. Although the displacement absorbing mechanism PA is provided in the plug 1, it may be provided in the receptacle 2 or in both the plug 1 and the receptacle 2.

  In the above embodiment, the contacts 15 and 25 of the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 are arranged in two rows in the width direction. However, the contacts 15 and 25 of the plug 1 and the receptacle 2 may be arranged in other than the two rows in the width direction. The configuration is not limited to that described above. That is, the present invention is not limited to the floating connector of the embodiment as long as the features and functions of the present invention can be realized.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plug 2 Receptacle 10,20 Housing 14 Engagement part 15,25 Contact 22 Side wall 26 Slit groove 27 Hook 29 Projection part 50 Leaf spring member 153,253 Terminal part 252 Spring part PA Misalignment absorption mechanism

Claims (6)

A receptacle having a receptacle contact and a receptacle housing for supporting the receptacle contact;
A plug having a plug contact and a plug housing supporting the plug contact;
A misalignment absorbing mechanism that is provided on at least one of the receptacle and the plug, and absorbs misalignment when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted,
A floating connector in which a terminal portion of the receptacle contact and a terminal portion of the plug contact abut each other when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted;
At least one of the receptacle contact and the plug contact has a support portion that supports a terminal portion thereof so as to be movable relative to the support housing. The floating connector according to claim 1,
The floating connector has a spring structure that is elastically deformable. The floating connector according to claim 1 or 2,
The misalignment absorbing mechanism is provided on one of the receptacle and the plug,
The floating connector according to claim 1, wherein the support portion is provided on one of the receptacle and the plug. In the floating connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The receptacle housing and the plug housing each have an engaging portion that engages with each other when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted together. The floating connector according to claim 4, wherein
The floating connector further comprising a biasing member that biases the receptacle housing and the plug housing in a direction away from each other when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are fitted together. The floating connector according to claim 4, wherein
The engaging portion is
A protrusion provided on one of the receptacle housing and the plug housing, and protruding substantially perpendicular to the fitting direction of the receptacle housing and the plug housing;
A floating connector having a leaf spring member attached to one of the receptacle housing and the plug housing and engaged with the protruding portion when the receptacle housing and the plug housing are engaged. .

Images